The Legendary “Turtle Island”

Legend says that in the beginning, before Earth even existed, there was only “Sky World”, and in the world far below it was “Water World”. One day, a young woman fell from “Sky World”. Some birds broke her fall, and placed her on the back of a sea turtle. Animals brought earth from the bottom of the ocean and placed it on the turtle’s back. Hence, Turtle Island was born. Years later, indigenous people inhabited Turtle Island. The people were very connected to and worshipped the three spirits of the natural world: water, air and earth. This united them with Mother Nature who loved her people and gifted them with lush, green forests, vast valleys and beautiful rivers full of fish. One day, Mother Nature saw a foreign ship approaching her island. She became very worried about her beloved people, and tears full of worry, as big as grapes, fell from her eyes. She rushed towards the shore to see who the foreigners were… They were Vikings. As she ran, her tears fell onto the ground. She was about to use her spiritual powers against the ship, but then she realized that the Vikings came with good intentions. Her tears turned into tears of joy, and wherever they landed, wonderful grapes sprouted. The indigenous people learned how to make delicious wine from the grapes. The Vikings had never tried such delectable wine. They were so shaken by the flavour that they named the land of grapes, “Vinland”, which means “Land of Wine”. Centuries past, Vinland became Canada, but the legend of Turtle Island remains till this day. Nowadays, the maple leaf on the Canadian flag symbolizes Mother Nature’s natural wealth and beauty.